Fundraisers.com presents the first of what will become a regular
feature on our website - Guest Editorials. We invite organizations
to submit articles related to one of our categories of content -
Causes, Ideas, People and Resources.

Our
first Guest Editorial is from Suzie Lettunich and
it highlights the many contributions of Seattle's prestigious advertising
firm Horton, Lantz & Low (HL2) to the Polycystic Kidney Disease
cause. Suzie was featured as a "Person Behind the Cause," for PKD
at Fundraisers.Com last October and we're pleased to include her
insights into a cause close to her heart.

HL2
rallies the country to Walk for PKD

On
September 18 and 19, the PKD Foundation will host the annual Walk
for PKD to raise awareness and funds for research in Polycystic
Kidney Disease. As the pro-bono agency of record for the organization,
HL2 created a kit of marketing materials to promote the event in
more than 40 cities across the country.

"The
Walk for PKD is organized entirely by volunteers who live in different
parts of the country," explained Suzie Lettunich, HL2's associate
creative director. "Many are organizing a Walk event for the very
first time. So these tools are a huge value to the national effort."

Horton
Lantz & Low created the Walk for PKD logo, registration forms, posters
and public service announcements for radio and TV. HL2 also negotiated
new web technology allowing participants to register online, start
a team, make donations, build a personal home page, email friends
and family, and track fund-raising progress and much more.

"PKD
is very under-funded compared to less-prevalent diseases. And lack
of awareness has a direct affect on their ability to raise funds,"
said Suzie. "That's why this work is so critical to the Foundation
and so meaningful for the agency."

Guest
Editorial

It's
more than personal - It's critical.
Join
us in the annual Walk for PKD across the country, Sept. 18-19by
Suzie Lettunich

As
a patient
with polycystic kidney disease, an active volunteer with the PKD
Foundation, and someone who works in advertising and marketing,
I get a lot of the same questions:

"Why
hasn't anyone ever heard of PKD?"

"What
are we doing to raise awareness and funds?"

As
we prepare for the annual Walk for PKD, I wanted
to provide some
answers. In
part, they
explain why the Walk for PKD is so critical to the PKD Foundation
and their mission to one day put an end to this devastating disease.

A
brief background on PKD

PKD
is the most common, genetic life-threatening disease affecting 600,000
Americans and 12.5 million people worldwide. PKD affects more people
than cystic fibrosis, muscular dystrophy, Down syndrome, hemophilia
and sickle cell anemia - combined.

Polycystic
means "many cysts" form on each kidney, ultimately causing renal
failure. There is no treatment and no cure, with dialysis and transplant
as the only options to prolong life. The PKD Foundation employs
just 20 people in Kansas City, MO - with the remainder of support
coming from volunteers located in major cities across the country.

Raising
awareness and funds for PKD research

Raising
awareness (and funds) takes a lot of time and money that most non-profit
organizations, like the PKD Foundation, simply do not have. It takes
a great deal of repetition to even get on the radar of the unassuming
public, who are not seeking out your message.

For
example, think of the car you drive. How many ads did you see on
TV or in print before you had heard of this car? How many brochures
or Web sites did you visit? Did any friends recommend it? It's possible
you may not have noticed the ads, or this particular car, at all
- despite the fact that most car manufacturers spend hundreds of
millions of dollars a year to raise awareness of their automobiles.

If
those kinds of deep pockets can't raise awareness, how can we.a
humble group of well-intended staff and volunteers?

The
power in numbers

Stretching
to Prepare for the Walk

The
Walk for PKD is our single greatest opportunity to pool our resources
- both staff and volunteer - to raise awareness and funds for PKD.
By hosting the event in major cities across the country, all on
the same weekend, we increase our chances of securing media coverage.
We build on the synergy and camaraderie that comes with a large-scale
event. We also maximize administrative resources on a single weekend,
which saves hundreds of hours and thousands of dollars - which,
in turn, goes to PKD research.

Since
2001, the Walk for PKD has grown from a small, grass-roots event
to a unified, national effort with marketing and administrative
support from the PKD Foundation. Thanks to the amazing work done
by volunteers across the country, we continue to build momentum.

We're
looking to double what we raised last year

In
2003, the national Walk for PKD effort raised just less than $500,000.
This year, we have set a lofty goal of doubling that amount. While
our aspirations may be a bit more optimistic than realistic - we
are working hard to make it happen. The key, of course, is to look
outside the immediate PKD family - by reaching outside our circle
of influence.

This
year more than years past, we are looking to our communities to
enlist friends, family members, colleagues and even mere acquaintances
to join us in the Walk for PKD.

In
fact, that's how I first encountered Fundraisers.Com. I was
seeking ideas, opportunities and avenues to spread the word about
PKD and raise funds for research. A simple Web search led me
to this site where I have since spent time sharing ideas and
success stories with other nonprofit organizations that have
similar needs and challenges.

We
also have increased the number of marketing materials available
to support the Walk for PKD effort. All of the creative services
were donated, so we are anxious to see benefits from that investment
which includes: posters, registration forms, public service announcements
for radio and TV, and press packets to generate media interest.
Also new this year is a highly robust Web site that makes it easy
to register online, create individual Web pages, build teams, make
online donations, keep track of fundraising goals, and even send
emails to everyone on your list to enlist their participation and
financial support.

Mark
your calendar for the third weekend in September!

Every
Walk for PKD event will be held the third weekend in September (either
Sat/Sept. 18 or Sun/Sept. 19). More than 40 events will take place
across the country. The Walk for PKD is a fun, community event with
prizes for the individual and team that raise the most funds. And
you'll often find food and fanfare at the finish line, complete
with goody bags for each participant.

To
meet our fundraising goal, we need the power of many individuals
coming together. By setting our goals high and working hard to reach
them, we can make a huge difference in raising funds and awareness
for PKD.

For
more information on how to volunteer for the Walk for PKD, please
call 1-800-PKD-CURE.. To start a team, register for the Walk for
PKD, or to make a donation, please visit:www.pkdcure.org

Suzie
Lettunich is a patient with PKD. She is the coordinator of the PKD
Foundation - Seattle Chapter and a member of the Chapter Advisory
Committee. She served as chair of the Seattle Walk for PKD the past
two years and currently serves as the chair of the national Walk
for PKD effort. Suzie is a copywriter and associate creative director
at Horton Lantz & Low -providing marketing and advertising solutions
for clients such as Microsoft, Vail Resorts, Seattle's Best Coffee
and others, including pro-bono services for the PKD Foundation.

PDK
Experts Offer Hope by
DeWayne Lumpkin

There have been
some very promising breakthroughs in PKD research in the last decade.
Family histories have led to a greater understanding of the genetic
nature of the disease. Genes directly related to both forms of PKD
have been isolated and are undergoing clinical analysis in animal
and human studies. Encouragement can be found in the answers to
the question: Is there any hope of finding a cure for PKD?

Our expert panel
includes: Dan Larson, President and CEO of the PKD Foundation; Dr.
Arlene Chapman, PKD Researcher and Professor of Medicine, Emory
University, Atlanta, Georgia; Dr. William Bennett, Medical Director
of Transplantation and Director of Renal Research at Legacy Health
Systems in Portland, Oregon; and Dr. Jing Zhou, Associate Professor
of Medicine, Harvard Medical School and Director of the Laboratory
of Molecular and Developmental Genetics.

Dr.
Chapman: "Absolutely -
new research findings
this will change the approach that families
currently take with regard to asymptomatic screening of their
at-risk children."

Dr.
Zhou: "There is always hope.All scientists are working very
hard in finding a drug target, a new pathway, and new disease
mechanisms. Such discoveries can be facilitated with the
development of new technology in biosciences. The newly identified
role of the ciliary localized PKD proteins as mechanosensors
in kidney cells opened a new window and/or avenue for understanding
disease mechanisms and design for therapeutic strategies."

Dan
Larson: "Absolutely! The PKD Foundation has only been around for
about 20 years - actively engaged in aggressive research funding
for about the past decade. In that short period, we have seen
incredible growth in the findings pointing toward a treatment
and cure. Our more immediate goal is to find a treatment that
stops cysts from growing. We've seen some great progress in just
the past few months. Down the road, we hope to completely crack
the code involving PKD and figure out how to short circuit the
process. The goal of the PKD Foundation is to put ourselves out
of business because we've found a treatment and a cure for PKD."

Dr.
Bennett: "I do not believe a cure for PKD will be found in the
near future, if by cure one means the elimination of the abnormal
gene. I am much more confident that we will obtain new treatments
that will slow down the growth of cysts and prevent or delay kidney
failure for years."